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Get rid of the clutter so one's mind moves peacefully around the rooms rather than thinking I have to do this or focusing on to something else to avoid thinking about that mess (what can .I say, .I am in a purging mood).

Not everyone needs to prepare a place physically before making it holy, but it helps most in my experience, it is a necessity for me.

Contention needs to be absent as well...no political discussions involving two of my family members is the rule.

Keep everything clean and tidy. We have simple kitchen rules: If you cook, you clean. If you eat, you clean. Nothing is not wiped down or put away immediately. Typically, all the cooking vessels are in the dishwasher and the cooktop has been wiped down before anyone sits down to eat.

No shoes in the house.

Don't shout or speak in anger, ever.

Hold a regular family home evening.

Invite the missionaries into the home weekly and always have someone for them to teach.

Attend the temple regularly and bring the holiness of that place into the home.

Controversial, but it certainly works for me: have no television or gaming system. I've never seen the latter invite the presence of the Spirit, and it's pretty rare with the former too.

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Bwahaha ... how about painting the walls red in the room most of the victimization happened in?

being outside works for me - Jesus liked to be outside too - the temples in his time were not holy (throwing out money changers etc. etc.) the temples now I do not think are holy either considering who has walked their halls - ther sermon on the mount - being outside, especially in the mountains - that feels holy to me.

Keep everything clean and tidy. We have simple kitchen rules: If you cook, you clean. If you eat, you clean. Nothing is not wiped down or put away immediately. Typically, all the cooking vessels are in the dishwasher and the cooktop has been wiped down before anyone sits down to eat.

No shoes in the house.

Don't shout or speak in anger, ever.

Hold a regular family home evening.

Invite the missionaries into the home weekly and always have someone for them to teach.

Attend the temple regularly and bring the holiness of that place into the home.

Controversial, but it certainly works for me: have no television or gaming system. I've never seen the latter invite the presence of the Spirit, and it's pretty rare with the former too.

This is a very good list. While I do have a Nintendo Switch, it's limited to a farming game, Mario Kart, Mario, and a fitness game my parents like when visiting. It probably gets picked up about once a month.

I'll just add that dedicating and periodically re-dedicating a home is good too.

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Bwahaha ... how about painting the walls red in the room most of the victimization happened in?

being outside works for me - Jesus liked to be outside too - the temples in his time were not holy (throwing out money changers etc. etc.) the temples now I do not think are holy either considering who has walked their halls - ther sermon on the mount - being outside, especially in the mountains - that feels holy to me.

Wait a minute. I haven’t even been in most of the temples.

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You don't have to go in yourself, you can just watch the youtubes I'm sure all of those hidden cameras were carried in by holy righteous people - reflecting the rigorous background checks that go into issuing TR's in the first place

Nope - nothing man-made feels holy to me anymore.

Outside - in the natural God-created splendors? That is my new holy place.

Edited January 11 by changed

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You don't have to go in yourself, you can just watch the youtubes I'm sure all of those hidden cameras were carried in by holy righteous people - reflecting the rigorous background checks that go into issuing TR's in the first place

Nope - nothing man-made feels holy to me anymore.

Outside - in the natural God-created splendors? That is my new holy place.

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Bwahaha ... how about painting the walls red in the room most of the victimization happened in?

being outside works for me - Jesus liked to be outside too - the temples in his time were not holy (throwing out money changers etc. etc.) the temples now I do not think are holy either considering who has walked their halls - ther sermon on the mount - being outside, especially in the mountains - that feels holy to me.

Do you believe that victimization happens in every home? And how would painting a wall red make room where victimization did happen in more holy?

I'll just add that dedicating and periodically re-dedicating a home is good too.

When I moved into my little beach cottage from my larger home after my husband passed away, I had it dedicated, which was a great comfort to me and helped me feel the Spirit. I am always careful who I bring into my home. And when a number of years later I renovated my kitchen using various contractors and workers, as soon as the work was complete, the first thing I did was have my home rededicated. It didn't feel right to me until that was completed. I've actually had people who have come into my home tell me it has a peaceful feeling... (And why wouldn't it?)

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When I was on my "walkabout" in the Czech Republic I adopted the Czech custom of always taking off shoes before entering the house. I never thought of it as a holy practice, just a practical one. Why wear shoes inside and bring in all the outside dirt and muck?

I'm curious how you see this as a holy practice. Is it godliness-cleanliness (like your dishes example) or is there more to it, along of the lines of "take off your shoes because this is holy ground"?

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Controversial, but it certainly works for me: have no television or gaming system. I've never seen the latter invite the presence of the Spirit, and it's pretty rare with the former too.

I'm not a gamer, but I grew up in the 80's and had an Atari 2600 and then the original Nintendo as a kid. I don't look back and think of my experience with those games as somehow antithetical to God's presence. It's probably a technological thing -- the games were so simple. But I had a fun time with Super Mario Brothers and Legend of Zelda

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Ideally, any place we happen to be is made holy just by our being there.

You say this kind of in jest, but I think it really gets to the heart of the matter. We are to be saints not just at church but in our homes too, and everywhere else we go. Your comment becomes more sentient when we realize that “saint” means “holy”. We make our homes holy by who we are, not by what it is. It may be perceived as holy for one family who lives there, and a nightmare for the next. It is not the bricks and mortar that are holy, it is the spirit we bring to it, nourish, and keep sacred there.

The home should be the heart of our lives. When we do so, God will abide in that heart.

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Id﻿eally, any place we happen to be is made holy just by our being there.

You say this kind of in jest, but I think it really gets to the heart of the matter. We are to be saints not just at church but in our homes too, and everywhere else we go. Your comment becomes more sentient when we realize that “saint” means “holy”. We make our homes holy by who we are, not by what it is. It may be perceived as holy for one family who lives there, and a nightmare for the next. It is not the bricks and mortar that are holy, it is the spirit we bring to it, nourish, and keep sacred there.

The home should be the heart of our lives. When we do so, God will abide in that heart.

You're right. I say it sort of in jest because it's not always easy to be that way at all times and in all situations. But if we do try to take it with us we don't have to worry about where we stand.
We can have a better life and be a better influence on others no matter where we are.

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When I was on my "walkabout" in the Czech Republic I adopted the Czech custom of always taking off shoes before entering the house. I never thought of it as a holy practice, just a practical one ...

I'm curious how you see this as a holy practice. Is it godliness-cleanliness (like your dishes example) or is there more to it, along of the lines of "take off your shoes because this is holy ground"?

I think you answered your own question, actually:

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Why wear shoes inside and bring in all the outside dirt and muck?

I think this is a literal statement as well as a symbolic one. When once we decide that our homes are not places for 'outside dirt and muck', this naturally extends to all filthiness. I think it's also significant for me since it takes effort, and sometimes it's an annoyance (as, for example, when one has to run out and in multiple times for some reason). Is the physical cleanliness of a home worth a bit of time and inconvenience. If not, then I think that too extends to areas of holiness.

My mission president would ground missionaries whose flats were not kept clean. He said there was no point trying to proselyte if we didn't have the Spirit with us. For him, they were one and the same.

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I'm not a gamer, but I grew up in the 80's and had an Atari 2600 and then the original Nintendo as a kid. I don't look back and think of my experience with those games as somehow antithetical to God's presence.

Many things that are not 'antithetical to God's presence' also don't actively invite the presence of His Spirit. It's a matter of good, better and best.

We have had a number of young men (and not so young men) in our ward who have managed to squander large chunks of their lives engaged in an activity that hasn't prepared them for missions, for fatherhood or even for life. Before moving into my own place eight months ago, I had a housemate in his very late 30s who would come home from work every single day, head straight to his room, and start gaming. About midnight, he'd wander out to the kitchen, note the time, curse the lateness of the hour, pour himself a huge bowl of breakfast cereal, and resume gaming for another hour or two whilst half eating the cereal. Then he'd stagger to work the next morning and repeat the entire process.

We lived together for nearly 11 years. I have no idea what he has to show for that daily investment of time and attention. It certainly isn't the growth that comes from studying the gospel, engaging fully with his assigned ministering families, attending the temple, going on splits with the full-time Elders, etc.